As someone who grew up on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and was positively affected by the characters and their stories, I still think about the characters a lot. My favorite, without a doubt, was Willow Rosenberg. In fact, she might be one of the fictional characters that I have the biggest connection to.
1. She's played by Alison Hannigan, who is honestly the purest human being to walk the face of the Earth.
If you have never seen Alyson Hannigan with her husband and children on Halloween, please consider the picture above as just the tip of the iceberg in regard to what goes down. After you've finished with this article, I'd suggest googling this topic - especially if you're having a bad day.
Also - bonus fact - Alyson Hannigan married Alexis Denisof, who co-starred as Wesley on both "Buffy" and "Angel."
2. We get to see her struggle with controlling her powers.
I've personally always wanted to be endowed with magical powers. I absolutely ate up the "Harry Potter" series and dreamed of going to Hogwarts. In 4th or 5th grade, I half-believed that I was a girl with magical powers. In case you were wondering, I was not. Still, imagine my thrill when I watched "Buffy" for the first time and discovered that not only way this sweet little redhead a witch, but we actually get to see her developing her skills as a magic user! I was over the moon. Looking at it now, this gives Willow a solid character arc; she goes from an awkward, nervous nerd to an absolute badass.
3. She has some great, hilarious lines that give me life.
The photos and gif about are just a few of the witty pieces of dialogue that Willow is given. When I was in middle school, I insert funny lines from the show into everyday conversation. My goal was to sound witty and smart. Unfortunately, my fellow 13-year-olds neither appreciated nor understood my humor.
4. She has a great glow up.
The way that Willow changed - not just visibly, either - throughout the seasons gave middle school-me hope that I would not be stuck so awkward, hideous, and obnoxious forever. The jury's still out on whether or not my glow-up was as profound as her's, though.
5. Her relationship with Oz.
When I first started watching "Buffy," Willow and Oz were my OTP. They were my laptop background, I obsessed over the scenes when they were together, and I actually preferred them over Angel and Buffy. I even wrote stupid, horribly embarrassing melodramatic fanfiction about them before I knew that other people did that, too. I had it bad.
I think what I really loved was how devoted they were to one another. The writers took a solid, well-written couple of characters and put them together in the best way possible. They clicked, and the result was cute, flirty dialogue and scenes filled with so many sweet moments that it could practically rot your teeth.
6. Her relationship with Tara.
My freshman year of high school, I started to question my sexuality. I found myself attracted to a very close friend, and through some twisty turns of events - including a horrendous date with a guy in a movie theater, a random stranger on Omegle, and a bathroom stall in the local library - we started dating. It was my longest relationship to date: three whole years, off and on. In the end, we went our separate ways.
However, before all that, I was confused and scared. I came from a very religion-oriented community, and these feelings for girls just would not go away. I had nightmares about going to hell, and in general, I was in a bad place. Then, I got to the place in "Buffy" where Willow and Tara got together.
They made these feelings I was having not so scary. They cared immensely for one another and turned out just fine - excluding the unjust thing that Joss Whedon made happen to our beloved Tara, that is. Still, this couple gave me strength that made me accept who I was. They helped me love myself when I considered myself unlovable.
7. The fact that everyone sort of collectively ignores her relationship with Kennedy.
Honestly, Kennedy was not as well-developed as Tara and Oz, and maybe fans are too hard on her for it. Still, she is probably my least favorite "Buffy" character of all time. However, she did say something in season 7 that resonated with me:
"The fun part is the process of getting to know a girl. It's like flirting in code. It's using body language and laughing at the right jokes and looking into her eyes and knowing she's still whispering to you, even when she's not saying a word. And that sense that if you can just touch her, just once, everything will be okay for both of you. That's how you can tell."
8. She's the best friend we've all ever wanted.
Honestly, who doesn't want to have a friendship like Willow and Buffy had?
9. She is LGBTQ Representation.
Despite arguments that Joss Whedon made a mistake by making Willow suddenly entirely lesbian instead of bi- or pansexual - even though she had been previously incredibly happy with Oz - she still is an LGBTQ character, and that matters. Still, Whedon's choice to have Willow identify solely as a lesbian instead of somewhere on the spectrum is a mistake in my opinion; it makes it look like Oz leaving "turned" her gay, which is not how this works at all.
10. She had one of the first lesbian sex scenes on television.
Despite the fact that this sex scene was with the widely-loathed Kennedy, it was a pretty big moment for the show as well as LGBTQ inclusion in television. The scene was pretty raw. While previously, they worked in magic as a metaphor or substitute for the actually having-sex part of the sex scene, the producers didn't use that here. This could be because Kennedy is a potential slayer, not a witch. However, I think it's because the network got tired of censoring and reusing the "magic = intimacy" trope. Furthermore, it definitely harks that times are changing, just in the breadth of this show.
Right before Tara's death, she and Willow did get pretty steamy. However, the fans were only shown them in bed right after. We are not privy to the "during" part, as we are later on with Kennedy and Willow.
11. She makes the ultimate big bad.
Dark Willow will always and forever be my favorite Big Bad - along with Angelus, that is. For some reason, I like the idea of people who were previously friends now becoming foes. Still, Angelus has absolutely nothing on Dark Wil, in my opinion. She has so many more layers! For example, her main motivation for taking in so much power is revenge - revenge for the death of her girlfriend. It's not greedy like Angelus' is since he only wanted to cause people pain. Willow had one specific task and goal. Also, Alyson Hannigan's performance is utterly terrifying in the best way.
12. Her phrase "bored now" and how it spans across the seasons.
I really like how Willow, when she is being portrayed as evil, uses "bored now" almost like a catchphrase. Much like Faith's "five by five," this phrase is repeated over several different episodes as a running thing. By repeating, "bored now," it gives an indication that Willow has less patience for things when her character is in a darker mood.
13. She struggles with addiction and totally kicks its ass.
A big plot point in season 6 is that Willow becomes rather reliant and then addicted to magic. She uses it for almost everything and the rest of the characters begin to notice that what used to be a hobby has become something much more. She is sneaking out to go and get extra magic from people, she drags her best friend's little sister into the mess, and then she gets the teenager hurt. In the end, Willow decides to get help with her problem and becomes much more powerful because of it.
14. The execution of "yellow crayon" scene is heartbreaking and conveys so much.
This scene focuses on Xander trying to turn Willow from evil to her normal self. Even though she resists him and tries to keep his story from affecting her emotions or form, however, she does eventually end up caving and allowing herself to be comforted. This demonstrates just how close the two actually are - and how big of an impact that friendship can have on the grieving.
15. She makes some big mistakes, but she is ultimately able to turn it around and get her shit together.
No matter what happened, she and her friends were able to pick up the pieces and move on, relying on one another. Joss Whedon is known for using endless metaphors for life in his show; almost every monster featured actually stands for something much bigger. At least for me, being able to watch these friends move on and keep picking up the pieces really helped me to do the same. It gave me the strength to know that ultimately, everything was going to be okay - and it hasn't steered me wrong yet.
16. In a way, she is the embodiment all of the adorable geeks that are obsessed with her - and maybe that's exactly why we are so invested in her character.
Honestly, she is us. We are one. She also showed us that no matter how uncool or nerdy we may be, there will be people out there who will love and appreciate us for who we are.
17. Finally, she gives me hope that no matter what I go through, I will be able to rise up and survive.
I have never related to a character more than this one. She gave me so much and ultimately, Willow Rosenberg has helped me through some really dark times. I owe a lot to the character and this show. Thank you, Joss Whedon.
